“So what’s the next step?” I asked. Bahlin quirked a brow at me and didn’t answer me so I said, “Er, maybe I should ask instead if you have any suggestions.”
He turned so he was facing me and propped himself on his elbows, stretching his legs out in front of him. Still wearing nothing more than his lounge pants, his abdominal muscles collectively tightened and knotted, emphasizing his cobblestone abs and hard physique. I tried, unsuccessfully, not to drool.
“Want me to come back over there?” he asked, standing up and brushing the dirt and rocks from his hands, his muscles bunching and releasing as he moved, captivating me like a snake does a small bird. I wanted to feel him move under my hands. I wanted to knead those muscles when they were tense. I wanted to get a grip on my hormones before this got out of control again.
“I, uh, okay.” Very suave, that’s me.
He walked toward me, predatory grace in motion. “You know what I want, Maddy?”
“Breakfast?” Hells bells he made me nervous. I wasn’t some simpering virgin, but he made me feel like it.
“Not so much, unless you’re on the menu, love.” He’d reached the edge of the bed. He grinned wickedly and stripped his pants off before getting back into bed.
“Hey. Put the drawers back on, buddy.” I scooted to the opposite edge of the bed. “We’ve got to plan our next move.”
Bahlin stretched, hands clasped, arms arched behind his back, and his back arched. It was a good stretch. “I’ve got it covered. But we’ve got hours to kill before we can leave the cave. I can only cloak myself with darkness, daylight won’t work.” He reached over to stroke a hand down my neck and across my breastbone, stopping just above my heart. “Do you remember what I told you?”
I trembled at the memory, locking my elbows at my sides to keep from wrapping my arms around myself in comfort. A fine bead of sweat popped up on my upper lip and my scalp prickled, and all from his earlier promise. “You said that one day we’d have hours uninterrupted to spend together in bed.”
“That day’s come earlier than I thought, Maddy.”
I scooted farther away from him, close enough to the edge of the mattress I was in real danger of falling off. “I don’t know, Bahlin. I’ve always been so cautious with, well, with sex. And you make me feel reckless and out of control, and I…I don’t know, Bahlin.” My heart almost needed life support just thinking about the possibilities. I knew what he was capable of, and a screaming orgasm delivered as a wake-up call didn’t sound like a bad idea. But my prudery was a stubborn beast and I couldn’t give in without at least some semblance of a fight, no matter how badly I wanted to. This way I couldn’t hold myself entirely responsible for it if things went south. Irresponsible, yes. But at least the only one I was attempting to fool was me. I was sure that to everyone else my idiocy was as transparent as plastic cling-wrap and probably equally as dicey to handle without ending up with a wadded up mess.
Bahlin rolled toward me and pulled me into his arms, sliding his hands over my ass, under my T-shirt and up my bare back. His fingers kneaded my tense muscles and I allowed myself to relax when he didn’t press any further than that.
“I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve said to me yet. Take off your shirt, mo chrid,” he whispered, leaning in to kiss me. His lips were hot to the touch. He slanted his mouth over mine and rubbed gently, licking my lower lip and nibbling on it as an effective means of coercion. I leaned in to the kiss, responding and opening to him and our tongues touched, gently at first. He took the kiss deeper, pulling me into his chest, gripping my thigh and drawing it up over his hip. I gasped into his mouth and he smiled, undulating his hips against me. His erection was enormous, searing my skin through my underwear. I jerked at the contact and he grunted, rubbing even more firmly against me. I wondered if it was possible to spontaneously combust during early foreplay.
Bahlin reached down between us and grabbed the hem of my T-shirt. “Maddy, please, take it off. I want to touch your skin. I want to